currentalks: April 2020

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Val Kilmer: My Wild Time Shooting ‘Top Gun,’ From Drunken Run-ins With the Cops to Pranking Tom Cruise...

The film icon Val Kilmer writes about his crazy time filming “Top Gun” in this exclusive excerpt from his memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry,” available now.

didn’t want the part. I didn’t care about the film. The story didn’t interest me. My agent, who also represented Tom Cruise, basically tortured me into at least meeting Tony Scott, saying he was one of the hottest directors in town and I could never afford to not meet with as many of them as possible, and also he was completely obsessed with me. Well, an agent doesn’t have to offer any other reasons when “the director is completely obsessed with you” comes out of their mouth.

I showed up at the audition because that’s what actors do when they’re asked to audition. I showed up looking the fool, or the goon. I wore oversize gonky Australian shorts in nausea green. I read the lines indifferently. And yet, amazingly, I was told I had the part. I felt more deflated than inflated. I had to get out of there.

The moment I got into the elevator, the director ran after me and slid his arm in to block the door. He blurted his truth in his chipper British accent: “I know that the script is insufficient, but it will get better, Val. Wait until you see these jets. They take your breath away.”

He then proceeded to imitate aircraft sounds and motions as if we were six years old and as if there were no one else in the hallway. “I know you’ve been told this before, I know you’re a serious actor, but you are perfect for this role. It’s as if they wrote it for you. It has to be you. It’s not the lead, but I’m going to make you feel like it is. And this kid we found, Tom Cruise, he has it, man, and you two together, and Kelly McGillis—you know her from Juilliard, she’s nine feet tall and utter perfection.”

He was a wrecking ball to my consciousness. I had never before been treated with such passion. I was so accustomed to giving passion, less familiar with receiving it.

Side note: I once flew to London when I couldn’t afford a ham sandwich to sit in a hotel room with a single videotape in hopes of hand-delivering it to Stanley Kubrick. Eventually I befriended one of his “people,” who told me after my forty-eighth phone call in one week, “I’m sorry, Val. He really liked the last video you did. I am not supposed to say this, but he’s really interested. In fact, we have stopped pre-production because of that last video. But he won’t see you. He just doesn’t work like that.”

Self-taping was new at the time, and Kubrick must have been enchanted with it. I got it. I was enchanted myself and had been shooting me and my friends since I could get my hands on a magical machine of my own. But Kubrick’s stubbornness sent me home, deflated.

Tony Scott’s British enthusiasm was the pick-me-up my ego craved. He was ferocious and hilarious. We both had penchants for fishermen’s vests. His was primly packed with pens, folded paper, and cigars, plus a monocle cinematographers use to examine the sun. Now video cameras adjust to let you film through the night, but it wasn’t like that back then.

Tony loved the process, loved the energy of the set, loved the characters. Everything was fuel to Tony. Every time a jet took off, Tony swooned. I threw lines away. He would jump for joy. Ultimately, he overwhelmed my disdain for the project with pure unadulterated positivity. Every day he would exclaim, “This is incredible! This is beautiful! This is beyond belief. You guys are going to be kings.” Off set, the actors broke into two camps—mine and Tom’s, a reflection of the rivalry between our two characters. In the film, I was Iceman and Tom was Maverick. I commanded my camp because I had a tricked-out van.

How Oil Prices Can Go Negative...

The mass closure of restaurants has led to a national oversupply of green beans. Americans apparently don’t eat as many fresh green vegetables when they eat at home. And even if people do want more green beans to cook at home, producers also have difficulty switching on a dime from serving the commercial market to serving the retail market. But at least farmers with too many green beans don’t have to pay someone to take their excess green beans. They don’t even have to pay someone to pick the green beans. They can just plow them back into the soil, plant again, and hope somebody will want to buy green beans in a few months. For this reason, the price of green beans cannot go below $0.

But what do you do if nobody wants the crude oil that comes out of your oil well? You can’t just dump it on the ground or pour it in a river or burn it; the EPA wouldn’t take kindly to that. You also generally can’t just turn the well off if you want the option to get oil from it in the future; oil wells are expensive to drill and you think prices will be positive again in the future, so you don’t want to lose the well. But in the meantime, oil is going to keep coming out of the well and you are going to have to get someone to take it off your hands, even if that means paying someone to do it. That’s why the price of crude oil can go below $0, at least for some period of time.

On Monday, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil futures for delivery in May fell to -$37 per barrel. You should not read too much into this as an indicator of ongoing prices for crude oil, let alone gasoline. Tuesday is the last day to trade the WTI futures contract for oil to be delivered in May, and if you get stuck holding an oil futures contract after trading in it ends, you may be obligated to actually take delivery of actual crude oil — so investors who aren’t actually in refining or other oil-consuming fields have to get rid of their contracts, and that has led to some screwy activity in a market with thin trading. The futures contract for June, trading around $17 per barrel as of 6:45am Tuesday, may be a better indication of the sort of crude oil prices we can expect to see in the next few weeks — positive, but far below pre-crisis levels. The June futures contract had been trading above $50 a barrel as recently as February 26.

You might be wondering: If crude oil is essentially free right now and expected to still be very cheap in June, why am I still paying $2 per gallon for gasoline? There are a couple of answers to this. One is that you can’t put crude oil in your gas tank. You need a refiner to make gasoline from the crude oil, and oil refiners have cut their production. Some refineries have closed entirely. (This disconnect — refiners shrinking production while extractors continue to produce — is why charges for oil storage have skyrocketed and market participants are worried about running out of places to put crude oil.) The other factor has to do with the operations of gas stations. They are able to buy gasoline much more cheaply at wholesale than they could a couple of months ago, but they are also selling much less volume of gasoline. As such, they need a higher markup per gallon to cover their non-fuel costs than they used to, and average retail gasoline prices are only down 97 cents per gallon from a year earlier, even with wholesale prices down $1.51.

Normally, falling crude oil prices provide benefits to consumers that go a long way to offset the economic costs from lower income to oil company owners and workers. But it’s not obvious when and how much you will get to enjoy any benefit from this price crash. You’re not driving much now. And in the medium term, oil producers will cut back on production. When the economy gets going again, they will be slow to start production back up, in the same way they are slow to shut it down right now. Market participants expect oil prices next year to be over $30 a barrel — which means as the economy restarts, you should be able to enjoy lower gas prices than you saw in 2019. When gas stations have a normal volume of customers, they will face more pressure to pass fuel cost cuts onto them. But if and when the economy gets back to roaring, the bust for oil producers in the current crash should lead to a more constrained supply. That could push prices up.

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS|| Georgia Beginning To Reopen Its Economy, Lifting Some Coronavirus-Crisis Limits...

Citing President Trump's guidelines for Opening Up America Again, released last week, Gov. Brian Kemp announced at a news conference Monday steps to reopen Georgia's economy, starting this Friday.

Kemp said "favorable data, enhanced testing and approval of our health care professionals" motivated him to reopen some businesses in the next week. Georgia is on track to meet Phase 1 criteria as recommended by the White House's coronavirus task force, according to the governor. Kemp cited Department of Public Health reports that emergency room visits of people with flu-like symptoms are declining and that documented COVID-19 cases have flattened.

But according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Georgia and number of deaths attributed to the virus there, have been steadily increasing in the last month.

Employees at "gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios," as well as "barbers, cosmetologists, hair designers, nail care artists, estheticians, their respective schools & massage therapists," will be allowed to return to work on Friday but will have to operate under restrictions.

The mandatory conditions at the workplaces include social distancing, enhanced cleanings, screening workers for fevers and respiratory illness, wearing gloves and a mask if appropriate, moving workplaces 6 feet apart, staggering work shifts and, if possible, teleworking.

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS

White House Defends Testing Capacity As Governors Ask For More

These particular businesses, Kemp said, have not been able to "undertake baseline operations" like inventory and payroll, unlike others.

On Monday, April 27, sit-down restaurants, theaters and private social clubs will be allowed to reopen, "subject to specific social distancing & sanitation mandates," according to the governor. More details on those mandates will be released in the coming days.

CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES

Free Fall: Oil Prices Go Negative

Kemp said in a tweet that bars, nightclubs, amusement parks and performance venues will continue to stay closed under shelter-in-place orders.

According to Georgia Department of Public Health data, 60 more people died from the virus over the last weekend. For most Georgia residents, the state's shelter-in-place orders are set to expire on April 30.

In addition to Georgia's orders, the governors of Tennessee and Pennsylvania Monday announced a loosening of state restrictions as well.

Tennessee's stay at home will expire on April 30, Gov. Bill Lee announced. His state will begin a "phased reopening" next week, after citing the state's 17 consecutive days of "only single-digit increases in the number of cases."

"The vast majority of businesses in 89 of Tennessee's 95 counties will be allowed to re-open May 1, with some slated to reopen April 27," the state announced.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, signed an executive order, extending the stay at home order in his state by more than a week. The previous order was set to expire on April 30.

But beginning at 12:01 a.m. on May 8 some portions of the economy will be allowed to resume, most notably construction projects across the state. His order will also allow for the online sale of vehicles and allow residents to pick up wine and spirit purchases curbside at certain state liquor control board locations.

US monitoring intelligence that North Korean leader is in grave danger after surgery..

(CNN)-The US is monitoring intelligence that suggests North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, is in grave danger after undergoing a previous surgery, according to a US official with direct knowledge.

A second source familiar with the intelligence told CNN that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim's health.

Kim recently missed the celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15, which raised speculation about his well-being. He had been seen four days before that at a government meeting.

Another US official told CNN Monday that the concerns about Kim's health are credible but the severity is hard to assess.

Daily NK, an online newspaper based in South Korea that focuses on North Korea, reports that Kim reportedly received a cardiovascular system procedure on April 12.

Kim received the cardiovascular system procedure because of "excessive smoking, obesity, and overwork," according to the news site, and is now receiving treatment in a villa in Hyangsan County following his procedure.

After assessing that Kim's condition had improved, most of the medical team treating him returned to Pyongyang on April 19 and only part of them remained to oversee his recovery situation, according to the news site. CNN is unable to independently confirm the report.

A South Korean source told CNN Monday that the country's top leaders are very much aware of reports about Kim's health status but cannot independently verify details published by Daily NK. The source acknowledged that Kim's issues related to weight and smoking are well known but made clear they are waiting for more information.

South Korea's Presidential Blue House said in a statement provided to reporters that they have nothing to confirm on reports about Kim's health and that "no unusual signs" have been detected inside North Korea.

South Korea's Unification Ministry and Defense Ministry have given a "no comment."

National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien said the US is "keeping a close eye" on reports about Kim's health.

"We're monitoring these reports very closely," O'Brien said during an interview with Fox News Tuesday. "As you know, North Korea is a very closed society," he said.

The National Security Council and Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment when reached by CNN on Monday. CNN has also reached out to the CIA and the State Department for comment.

In the meantime, US officials have been reaching out to North Korean experts -- particularly those who have studied the Kim regime -- to talk about contingency planning, a third source familiar with the communications told CNN.

Still, the situation remains murky as gathering intelligence out of North Korea is notoriously difficult -- one of the most challenging targets for US intelligence.

North Korea tightly controls any information surrounding its leader, who is treated almost like a deity within the country. His absences from official state media often spark speculation and rumors about his health. North Korea has no free press and is often a black hole when it comes to the country's leadership. Analysts are heavily reliant on scanning state media dispatches and watching propaganda videos for any semblance of a clue.

Kim last appeared in North Korean state media on April 11. April 15 -- North Korea's most important holiday, the anniversary of the birth of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung -- came and went without any official mention of Kim Jong Un's movements.

Experts are unsure of what to make of Kim's absence from any festivities celebrating his grandfather. When North Korean leaders have not shown up to these important celebrations in the past, it has portended major developments. But it has also turned out to be nothing.

"There have been a number of recent rumors about Kim's health (smoking, heart, and brain). If Kim is hospitalized, it would explain why he wasn't present on the important April 15th celebrations," said Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA deputy division chief for North Korea. "But, over the years, there have been a number of false health rumors about Kim Jong-un or his father. We'll have to wait and see."

Kim Jong Il's absence from a parade celebrating North Korea's 60th anniversary in 2008 was followed by rumblings that he was in poor health. It was later revealed he had a stroke, after which his health continued to decline until his death in 2011.

Kim Jong Un disappeared from the public eye for more than a month in 2014, which also prompted speculation about his health. He returned sporting a cane, and days later South Korean intelligence said that he had a cyst removed from his ankle.

"It's easy to be wrong on this one," said John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul.

Still, with concerns about Kim's health mounting, the state of US-South Korean relations has US officials worried, sources tell CNN.

On Monday, President Donald Trump said the two countries have a "great relationship," but added he wants them to pay more for the US presence in the country. The two countries have missed multiple deadlines for those negotiations. And now in-person negotiations are hindered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Universal Tests the Bounds of Premium On-Demand With 'Trolls' Sequel

Beginning Friday, the animated movie was available to rent in the home for $19.99 after the studio decided to break the theatrical window.

"World premiere. Stream from home!" So trumpeted Fandango's homepage on Friday in touting Universal and DreamWorks Animation's Trolls World Tour, which is defying tradition in launching on premium VOD and a smattering of theaters that remain open.

Universal is hoping the test will help answer the question of how much consumers are willing to pay to watch a high-profile new movie in the home. The release of almost every other Hollywood spring and early summer title has been delayed amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and resulting theater closures, but Universal opted to stick to Troll's April 10 Easter weekend release and make the film available to rent in the home for 48 hours for $19.99 (it will also be made available to 25 or so U.S. drive-ins and any cinemas still in operation overseas.)

Theater owner have denounced Universal's decision to break the theatrical window, arguing that a film's home entertainment potential is based on a high-profile run in theaters that generally lasts three months. But some Wall Street analysts aren't as quick to judge.

"You have hundreds of millions of families stuck at home. I don't know if a new title would work on a weekly basis, but I actually think Trolls will surprise people in terms of how well it does," says media and entertainment analyst Richard Greenfield of LightShed Partners.

Unlike box office grosses, home entertainment numbers for individual titles aren't disclosed. It isn't yet clear whether Universal will share any information it collects in the coming days.

The first Trolls opened to $46.6 million domestically in October 2016 on its way to earning $346.9 million globally. Greenfield calculates that Universal, which splits grosses with cinema owners, received back about $190 million of that in theatrical rentals. "That would equal fewer than 10 million pay-per-view hits for Trolls World Tour," he concludes.

Greenfield adds that cable giant Comcast, which owns NBCUniversal, reaches 20 million homes alone. Overseas, Comcast also owns Sky, whose subscriber count is 30 million homes. And rival platforms such as Apple Movies and Amazon Prime are also pushing Trolls in a major way.

A premium VOD play would be far more difficult in terms of economics for tentpoles relying on mega-grosses, such as a Star Wars movie or even Disney's Mulan, says Greenfield.

But the Trolls franchise — voiced by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick — is a different proposition. The first Trolls cost around $125 million to produce before marketing, while the sequel cost closer to $100 million after tax incentives and rebates.

The other Hollywood movie that will now go straight to digital is Disney's Artemis Fowl, which cost in the same range as Trolls and is headed for Disney+ (it had been set to hit theaters at the end of May).

Universal insiders say it ultimately didn't make sense to delay the release of Trolls World Tour, since the marketing campaign was in full swing when the pandemic hit, including brand and merchandising partnerships.

They add that home entertainment isn't an economic stand-in for theatrical, but that it could prove beneficial in the future to shorten the window so that there can be one campaign for both theatrical and home entertainment. As it stands now, the traditional window is roughly three months.

"I look at this as an incredible opportunity to be able to offer joy and happiness for 80 minutes," Trolls World Tour director Walt Dohrn tells The Hollywood Reporter.

"This is an opportunity to reach more people. The other option was pushing the release date, but everything would be out-of-balance and crowded. This just felt like the right thing to do," Dohrn continues. "If we took ourselves out of this unprecedented situation, there might even be room for both."

Universal has wanted to shrink the theatrical window for years. In the latter half of 2011, the studio proposed offering Brett Ratner's Tower Heist available to rent in the home for $59.99 three weeks after its theatrical release on Nov. 4. The studio quickly backed down amid the threat of boycotts from theater owners.

Earlier in 2011, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Fox dropped a a proposal to make certain titles available 60 days after their release in theaters for $29.99 via DirecTV.

"I think Comcast wanted to test something, and this [Trolls World Tour] is the film they chose to do it with," says Eric Handler of MKM Partners. "Will they make money? We'll see."

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